Lilavati Trust Dispute: Bombay High Court Dismisses Former Trustee's Plea In Dispute Over Removal Of Trustees

The Bombay High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by Niket V. Mehta, a former permanent trustee of the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, seeking directions in proceedings for the suspension and dismissal of persons claiming to be trustees of the Trust.

Mehta's proceedings sought the suspension and dismissal of Charu K. Mehta, Prashant Mehta, Rajesh Mehta, Rajiv Mehta, Rakesh Khanna, Saurav Sharma, Kiran Shah, Sanjay Shroff, Mohit Mathur, and Tatyaba Palve, who he alleged were claiming to be trustees of the Trust.

A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Kamal Khata dismissed Mehta's petition after he insisted that the Joint Charity Commissioner-I, Mumbai, follow the procedure specifically prescribed under Section 41D(2)(c) of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950, while deciding his plea.

The Bench held that it could not direct the adjudicating authority to follow only the procedure under Section 41D(2)(c), instead of the entire procedure prescribed under Section 41D.

The Court observed, “We are unable to accept the insistence of the Petitioner that, this Court must direct the concerned adjudicating Authority to follow the procedure particularly prescribed under Section 41D(2)(c) of the Trust Act instead of the entire procedure prescribed under Section 41D.”

The Court further observed that it appeared Mehta had sought such a direction “with a view to sabotage the functioning of the concerned adjudicating Authority.”

Mehta had approached the High Court under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution. Mehta had approached the Charity Commissioner seeking the suspension and dismissal of persons claiming to be trustees of the Trust. He then moved the High Court seeking expeditious disposal of those proceedings and a direction on the procedure to be followed while deciding them

According to Mehta's plea, he is the grandson of Kirtilal Manilal Mehta, who settled the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust under a Trust Deed dated July 5, 1978. The Trust manages and operates Lilavati Hospital in Bandra, Mumbai. Mehta claimed that he was a permanent trustee of the Trust from October 16, 2002 to December 14, 2023.

He also relied on Clause 20 of the Trust Deed, which, according to his plea, required trustees to be appointed from the settlor's family.

The plea alleged that the respondents were persons claiming to be the present trustees of the Trust and had been appointed at meetings allegedly held on December 14 or 15, 2023 and December 22, 2023.

It further alleged that they had been in control of the Trust since December 14, 2023. Mehta subsequently filed his plea before the Charity Commissioner under Sections 41D and 41A of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, read with Rule 25AA of the Maharashtra Public Trust Rules, seeking suspension and dismissal of the respondents as trustees.

The High Court said it had indicated to Mehta's counsel that, except for deleting the words “(2)(c)” from prayer (a), it was inclined to allow the petition in terms of prayers (a) and (b). However, Mehta's counsel opposed the deletion and insisted that the petition be heard on merits.

The Bench declined to do so, observing that it was unwilling to hear the matter on merits merely to pass the particular order sought by Mehta. It deprecated the stand taken on his behalf and dismissed the petition in limine.

After the dismissal, Mehta sought continuation of an ad-interim relief for two weeks to enable him to challenge the order before the Supreme Court. The Bench rejected the request, observing that it appeared to it that Mehta “somehow wants to protract the litigation”, even though the Court was inclined to grant substantive relief to him.

For Petitioner: Advocates A.R. Pai a/w. Avadhut V. Patil, Sanika Gawade

For Respondents: Senior Advocates Aspi Chinoy, Ashish Kamat, Gaurav Joshi, Advocates Adv. Dakshesh Vyas, Abhishek Prabhu, Sankalpita Mullick, Jyoti Ghag, Tarun Mehra, Ankit Singhal i/by Dua Associates, Ragherth Basant a/w. Aditya N. Raut, Utsav Trivedi, Richa P. i/by Desai Desai Carrinjee & Mulla LLP, Rashmin Khandekar, Dikshat Mehra, Devesh Juvekar, Mithilesh Chalke, Honey C., Rima Desai, Minal C., Monish Bhatia i/by Rajani Associates, Piyush Raheja, Ameet Naik, Madhu Gadodia, Vivek Dwivedi, Vinita Dandekar, Aryan Garg i/by Naik Naik & Co, Rishikesh Soni a/w. Chanakya Keswani, Tanmay Bhave, Minhas Joshi, Aditi Singh i/by Economic Laws Practice, Mayur Khandeparkar, Chanakya Keswani, Tanmay Bhave, Minhas Joshi, Aditi Singh, Karan Bhide a/w. Manisha Prajapati, M.Nakrani i/by Dhiresn H. Shah, Manas N. Gawankar a/w. Shabbir Jariwala i/by Jariwala Associates, Abhay Dhadiwal a/w. Monish Bhatia, Vidhi Karia, Prithvi Sawla i/by Jayakar & Partners, Neha Bhide, GP a/w. O. A. Chandurkar, Addl. GP, Gauri Raghuvanshi, AGP